One still has to attach a keyboard to use this feature ...

Yes the optical drive will work on laptops as well when using the Target Disk mode. This worked for me on my G5 tower when i connected my iBook for a backup.

Probably because on the Mac mini the CD/DVD and hard drive on the same bus - not true of the PowerBooks or desktops (don't have an iBook handy to check).

Powerbooks do this too.

Chris

Works with eMac's.

This is how I installed OS Server on our Xserve as the Xserve's interal drive has failed.

I thought new versions of Toast allowed you to see other optical burning drives via rendezvous, and make use of that that way.

I don't have a copy of Toast, but remember this from their literature; can anyone confirm?

Sure, do, works great. The only problems are 1) I occasionally have the same drive show up 2 or more times. It works fine, but if more then 4 show up, Toast asks if you want to buy more licenses 2) It creates a disc image, and then copies it to the logged in users Documents file. After copying, it doesn't remove this file, which can fill up a hard drive quickly when burning DVDs.

But to make this really useful on the road, someone has to make an USB keyboard with only the letter T and the power button. ;)

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iMac G5 1GB SD 10.3.7 /
G4 400 AGP 768MB 10.3.7 /
G4 400 AGP 768MB OSX Server 10.3.7

Just get one of these with bluetooth support.

http://www.frogpad.com/

Then you can take the keyboard away with you after boot.

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I thought once I was found but it was only a dream

Unless one is on the road with the lightest of the 17 inch G5 iMacs (as many of us are now), in which case one can use its keyboard and mouse on the Mini.

.... a $500+ external optical drive?

How about I give someone an external DVD-RW, and then they can give me a Mac mini? Tell ya what. I'll even glue an external firewire hard drive to it.

Yes works on my iBook G4 and mounts on my 9600 under OS 9, CD and all the CD icon looks different .

Very cool ! thanks for the tip !

This will work with many of the newer laptops but not necessarily with the older ones. A service tech I know said that this is an 'undocumented feature' even as far as the service manuals that Apple provides are concerned.